STORY: HIV INFECTIONS ON THE RISE IN

SOMALIA
DURATION: 04.52
SOURCE: AMISOM PUBLIC INFORMATION
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CREDIT REQUIRED: AMISOM PUBLIC
INFORMATION
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/SOMALI/NATS
DATELINE: 1st, DECEMBER 2014, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA

SHOTLIST
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4.

Wide shot; Banadir hospital sign at the main gate

Wide shot; Banadir hospital
Close up shot; world aids day sign post
Wide shot; Dr. lul Mahamud Mohamed, Head of Banadir hospital talking
to the students before the HIV test
5. Medium shot; male students
6. Medium shot; female students
7. Close up shot; Dr. lulu
8. Wide shot; Dr. lul Mahamud Mohamed talking to the students
9. Medium shot; female students listening
10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dr. Lul Mahamud Mohamed, Head of Banadir
hospital
We are here today because it is 1st of December, it is World Aids Day and we are
doing some activity to improve quality of care and to even know the (HIV & AIDS)
status of the Somalia people.
11. Medium shot; Faiza Omar Salad testing for HIV
12. Close up shot; Faiza Omar
13. Close up shot; drawing blood from female students finger
14. Close up shot; Voluntary counselling and testing officer(VCT)
15. Close up shot; rapid testing kit
16. Close up shot; female student
17. SOUNDBITE: (Somali) Faiza Omar Salad, student Somalia National

University
Im part of the students from Somalia University studying medicine in my 5th
year, we are all today taking part in the World Aids Day campaign, we all want
to know our HIV status whether we are positive or negative because the
whole world is today celebrating and so are we in Somalia.
18. Medium shot; Abdikhaliq Hassan Baraqou waiting
19. Close up shot; hands
20. Close up shot; Abdikhaliq Hassan Baraqout
21. Wide shot; Abdikhaliq Hassan Baraqou Taking the test
22. Close up shot; cotton wool
23. Wide shot; discussing the results
24. SOUNDBITE: (Somali) Abdikhaliq Hassan Baraqou, 5th year

medical student
I think the first reason is because there are cultural barriers for example we
believe they are HIV negative simply because they do not engage in sexual
behaviours, you hear everyone telling you I do not have sex and they even
feel ashamed to go for the HIV test. These cultural traits therefore make this
disease not mentioned and that is why I think it has silently spread.
25. Close up shot; recording the results
26. Close up shot; testing kits
27. Medium shot; male student testing
28. Close up shot; VCT officer
29. Close up shot; student
30. Wide shot; counselling and testing
31. Wide shot; students waiting
32. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dr. Lul Mahamud Mohamed, Head of Banadir
hospital

We are testing more than 200 students to know their status and also to
emphasize that HIV test is a normal test like HB, CBS or something like that
or hepatitis.
33. Wide shot; counsellor walking with client
34. Medium shot; counsellor talking to the client
35. SOUNDBITE: Sahra Ahmed Ali, HIV positive mother of 7
I contracted the disease in Mogadishu from my husband who was married to
another woman. He infected me when he came back to Mogadishu from the
other woman. After i realized, i went for an HIV test in the hospital and was
referred to banadir hospital, that is how i started taking medication.
36. Wide shot; Dr. Lul Mahamud Mohamed, Head of Banadir hospital speaking
at the World Aids Day celebration at the city place hotel Mogadishu
37. Medium shot; Dr. Lul Mahamud Mohamed
38. Medium shot; Ahmed Mohamed Jimale, chairman Somaila national Aids
commission talking the celebrations
39. SOUNDBITE: (Somali) Ahmed Mohamed Jimale, chairman Somaila
national Aids commission talking the celebrations
Its on the rise because we see positive cases almost everyday, but people feel
stigmatized and they fear coming out when they test positive, its one of the main
challenge.
40. Wide shot; participants at the celebrations

STORY
Just like the rest of the world, Somalia today marked World Aids Day by bringing
together people of all walks of life including those living with HIV Aids.
Many thronged Banardir Hospital in Central Mogadishu for voluntary testing for HIV.
This years HIV Aids Day theme in Somalia was bridging the gap, after new figures
showed an increase in new HIV infections. The rise in infections is being blamed on
ignorance, cultural barriers and fear of stigmatization which hampers many people
from finding out their HIV status.
According to statistics from the Somalia National Aids Commission, Somalia has a
total of 26,000 people living with HIV & AIDS with 51 percent of them being women.
This figure includes those living in Southern Somalia, Puntland and Somaliland.
In 2013, 2,691 new cases were reported in south central Somalia alone, while 980
was reported in Somaliland and 278 in Puntland.
As part of this years campaign to deter new HIV infections, some 200 university

students from Somalia University and Jazeera University between the ages of 19 to
23 received free screening at Banadir hospital. The campaign is targetting the youth
because they are considered as the most vulnerable group.
Dr. Lul Mahamud Mohamed, head of Banadir hospital, which is one of the only two
Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centers (VCT) in Mogadishu says her hospital is
currently treating 300 HIV & AIDS patients who receive free treatment at the centre.
She urged Somalis to know their status and encouraged them to openly discuss the
diseases so that more and more people can know about it.
We are here today because it is 1st of December, it is World Aids Day and we are
doing some activity to improve quality of care and to even know the (HIV & AIDS)
status of the Somalia people, Dr. Lul said at the Banadir Hospital VCT centre where
dozens of students from Somalia University were being counselled and screened.
In Somalia, HIV and Aids is still considered a taboo subject as is directly associated
with promiscuity in a where country 99 percent of its population profess Islam.
Health workers dealing with HIV & AIDS depend largely on those living with HIV to
help them break these barriers.
Sahra Ahmed Ali, a mother of 7 children is among those living with HIV & AIDS. She
first knew of her HIV positive status 7 months ago. She is urging Somalis to go for
HIV testing to know their status and has also called upon newlyweds to test for HIV
before exchanging vows, to reduce chances of contracting the disease
I contracted the disease in Mogadishu from my husband who was married to
another woman. He infected me and so that is how I contracted the disease. After I
realized am sick I went for a HIV test in a hospital in Mogadishu which referred me to
Banadir hospital and that is how I started taking medication here,
Mohamed Said Shire, who is also living with HIV & AIDS and is the chairman of the
umbrella for the people living with disease in Somalia says since he openly came out
about her status in 2006, he has managed to bring down some of the barriers that
cause stigmatization against people living with HIV and AIDS.
Ahmed Mohamed Jimale, the Somalia National AIDS Commission chairman says
new cases of HIV & AIDS are on the rise in Somalia and blames it on ignorance and
cultural beliefs. He said this years World Aids Day celebrations is aimed at stemming
the rise of new infections.
New infections are on the rise, Yes because we get new positive cases almost every
day but people still feel stigmatized and they fear coming out whenever they test
positive, it is one of the main challenges and this is caused by stigmatization.

END